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THE 



WONDERFUL STORY 



OF LIFE 





A MOTHER'S TALKS WITH HER 

DAUGHTER REGARDING LIFE 

AND ITS REPRODUCTION 



GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
WASHINGTON .... 1921 



The 

Wonderful Story of Life 



A Mother's Talks with her Daughter 
Regarding Life and its Reproduction 




ISSUED BY 

THE UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 

WASHINGTON, D. C. 
1-^ 




UBKARY Of CONGKESS 

DECEIVED 

AUGi6!921 

DOCUMENTS DiV'.3tOK 



.1JU, 



FOREWORD. 



To-day most enlightened parents recognize the need of instructing their 
children in matters of sex. They know that such instruction is of real value 
for wholesome development ; that it prevents much needless worry and possible 
bad practices on the part of the growing child. They understand also that 
it provides a valuable protection later against the very serious venereal dis- 
eases. In increasing number parents are endeavoring to teach their children, 
and the results achieved indicate very clearly the importance of widely ex- 
tending this work. Eventually every child should be instructed concerning 
sex matters just as surely as it is taught to walk, to eat properly, to wash. 1 

Nevertheless, this instruction is not altogether an easy task for many 
parents. Their own education along this line was too negative; it created 
a false modesty which they find it hard to overcome. And yet most of them, 
as has been said, realize its importance, not to say its necessity. They do not 
mean to allow their child to go forth into the world unprepared. They know 
that reliable information on sex subjects is essential for happiness and well- 
being. They realize that too often such instruction as is given comes altogether 
too late. They are convinced that sex education is one of their responsibilities 
to their children, just as it is their duty to teach the care of the teeth, good 
manners, and habits of cleanliness. Yet they can not bring themselves to 
the point of telling the simplest facts of sex, although the critical years are 
approaching rapidly — in some cases are already at hand. 

This booklet is an attempt to provide such parents with a means of sane 
instruction for a daughter 7 to 10 years of age. This will not be too early 
to begin. It is suggested that the mother or father read the book aloud to 
the child. If the parent is in the habit of reading aloud this procedure will 
not attract special attention. First, the parent should go through the book 
alone in order that its contents may be clearly understood. Then gradually 
a chapter or more at a time may be read to the child. This should be done 
as informally as possible. Such informality may be assisted by introducing 
details which relate directly to the child's personal experience. Perhaps she 
has been planting some seeds; perhaps some robins are building a nest in the 
tree outside her window. Questions or comments from the child should be 
encouraged and met sympathetically. Parents should not be shocked at any- 
thing the child may say, else she will stop confiding in them. An atmosphere 
of informality can be created which will help to make this rather formal 
method of sex instruction effective. 

Some parents will not wish to read this material to their children, but will 
prefer to tell the story informally. This method has numerous advantages. 
For such parents, however, it is believed this book will furnish useful sug- 
gestions and possibly some information which can be effectively used. 

It is hoped that this little book will prove of real assistance to the many 
parents who have been hesitant but anxious to give their children the neces- 
sary sex instruction. Simple but clear terms have been used to make known 
the exact facts of sex life. In these days information on this subject can 
not be kept from a wide-awake child. It is merely a question as to whether 
the child will get this information from reliable or unreliable sources. With 
instruction from good sources the child will be better able to meet such 
problems of her sex life as may immediately arise. This material will, more- 
over, furnish a solid foundation for the further instruction and training which 
will be necessary later. 

1 Evidence of the need for sex education is to be found in V. D. pamphlet No. 32, 
issued by the U. S. Public Health Service. See also M. J. Exner : A study of 948 
College Men. 

55226°— 21 3 



Chaptee I. 

This little book, Helen Elizabeth, is written particularly 
for you and me. We are going to read it together because 
I want to be sure that you understand the things which we 
shall find in it. If, as we read, there are any words or sen- 
tences which puzzle you, which you do not understand, be 
sure to ask about them. I shall try to answer questions 
for you as well as I can. 

We are going to read, you and I, about wonderful and 
beautiful things. Now, there are many, many beautiful 
things in the world. That maple tree out in front of the 
house, which is so fresh and green; the rose bush in the 
garden just covered with roses ; the birds which sing out- 
side your window every morning; and the fishes, if you 
catch a glimpse of them in the cool, dark waters of the 
little pond just outside the town, the silvery fishes, which 
dart to and fro so quickly — all these things are beautiful. 
If it were not for them and for many other living things 
this would be a very dreary and unhappy world to live in. 
What would the world be like if there were no plants, no 
fishes, no birds, no animals, or men upon it % Nothing but 
the unchanging rocks, the drifting sands, and the lone- 
some waters. You and I would not like to live in such a 
world. 

Already probably you have noticed that all living things 
change almost continually. If a thing does not change we 
say it has no life. That rock beside the road is just the 
same to-day as it was yesterday, and if we come back next 
year it will, as far as we can see, still be the same. It does 
not grow at all. The pile of sand in which you and your 
friends play changes only because you dig holes in it ; the 
sand itself does not change. But flowers and trees, and 
fishes, and you yourself, Helen Elizabeth, are never quite 
the same one day as you are the next. Yesterday you were 
not as big a girl as you are to-day, and you are not as big 

4 



THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE. 5 

to-day as you will be to-morrow. We human beings grow 
from childhood to youth and from youth to womanhood, 
and then we gradually grow old and finally die. All living 
things, plants and animals, do the same. 

Since all living things change and finally die, it is nec- 
essary always that new plants and animals be created to 
take their places. If new plants, fishes, birds, animals, 
and people were not constantly produced, the earth would 
soon be left without any. In a short time it would all be 
a vast desert without a living thing on it ; no plants, fishes, 
birds, animals, or men. 

Now, this does not happen, because all living things 
multiply or repeat themselves in their offspring. Every 
kind of plant, every kind of animal in the world, has the 
power to produce baby plants and baby animals like itself. 
The grass makes or brings forth new grass ; the oak tree 
new oaks ; the pretty violets and all the other flowers, new 
flower plants; the chickens, little chicks; cattle, their 
calves ; dogs, their puppies ; and people, their babies. 

How they do this is a wonderfully interesting story. I 
am going to tell you about it — tell you how the flowers 
make the new little plants which will produce flowers next 
year ; how the fishes which we eat for breakfast or dinner 
have already provided for the little fishes which will take 
their places; how the birds arrange so that there will 
always be birds to come to us in the springtime ; and how 
your little baby brother and you yourself, Helen Eliza- 
beth, came to be born. 

This story of reproduction, as we call it, is a wonderful 
and beautiful story. It is beautiful because it tells about 
living things which, we have agreed, are among the most 
beautiful things in the world. It is wonderful because 
it tells about wonderful things. Men have made many 5 
marvelous inventions, like automobiles and . steamships 
and airplanes; but they have never been able to invent 
anything so wonderful as the simplest little plant or ani- 
mal which may reproduce itself. Yet unless God had 
given all living things this power to reproduce, plants and 



6 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE. 

animals and men would long ago have disappeared from 
the earth. That is why we say this story is not only beau- 
tiful and wonderful ; it is sacred. 

About sacred things we do not talk lightly. We do not 
talk about them with other children, for many children 
do not know how wonderful and beautiful this story of 
the reproduction of life is. But you may talk about it 
freely with your father and me. We are always ready — 
yes, anxious — to help you understand and will always an- 
swer your questions as well as we can. 



Chapter II. 

We have agreed, Helen Elizabeth, that living things are 
among the most beautiful things in the world, and that 
because all living things change and finally die there would 
soon be none of them left unless new ones were produced. 
How sad it would be if all the green grass and the beauti- 
ful flowers, and the birds, and all the animals should dis- 
appear. If you will listen very carefully I shall tell you 
why they do not disappear. 

First, we shall consider the flowers. How many, many 
different kinds of flowers there are. There are violets and 
dandelions and buttercups and roses and sweet peas and 
daisies and forget-me-nots and lilies and pussy-willows 
and hollyhocks, and perhaps you can name a lot more. 
All these flowers are beautiful, and you and I would be 
very unhappy if a time should come when there were none. 

Now, flowers come from plants, and each flower has its 
own particular plant. In order to have a wild rose you 
must have a wild rose bush. In order to have dandelions 
there must be a dandelion plant. Sweet peas do not grow 
on apple trees or currant bushes, but on sweet-pea vines. 
You know that as well as I. 

The sweet-pea vine, like other plants, has roots by 
means of which it draws water and nourishment from the 
ground. You know that if you cut off its roots the vine 
will die. It also has leaves, by means of which it gets air, 
and you know that if bugs continually destroy its leaves 
it will die. You know that it has a stem which holds up 
the leaves and flowers, but that without the sap from the 
roots the stem will die. You know that it has flowers, 
lovely and sweet, beloved by bees and girls, and that after 
the flowers have faded and their petals fall, the little 
stumps which are left change into pods filled with seeds. 



8 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE. 

These seeds, if planted and given water, air, and sun- 
shine, will sprout into young sweet-pea vines. So every 
year when all the old sweet-pea vines have died we can 
still count upon new sweet-pea vines starting from the 
pea- vine seeds. These new pea vines will bear sweet peas, 
just as pretty and sweet as the old pea vines did. 

Did you ever think what a wonderful thing a seed is — 
that a little pea seed has in it something which will sprout 
and grow and become another plant, and something also 
which will surely make that plant take a certain form? 
Its stem will have tendrils; its leaves will be pea leaves 
and not oak leaves or tea leaves. It will bear flowers 
which will surely be sweet peas and not hollyhocks ; surely 
white or pink and not blue or yellow ; and which will have 
a certain odor and no other; and which will be followed 
by pea pods, not by peach or sunflower seeds. All of that 
and much more is wrapped up in the tiny seeds. 

The seeds are so very wonderful, Helen Elizabeth, that 
I am, going to tell you more about them. Every part of 
a pea vine or any other plant has a particular work to do. 
I told you a little while ago why roots were necessary, 
why leaves, and why the stalk. They all have a very defi- 
nite work. But how about the flower ? Is it only a pretty 
decoration for you to put in a vase on the dining-room 
table or for me to wear to parties f No ; the flower, like 
the leaves, has a definite work. It is to help form this 
very wonderful little seed. 

In the very center of all flowers there is a stalk called 
the pistil. And what is a pistil, you ask? Well, I will 
try to draw a picture of a pistil for you. Or wait; per- 
haps we can find it here in this flower. 1 That will be better, 
because my pictures would not help you very much, I am 
afraid. 

Here is the pistil. It is this upright part in the very cen- 
ter of the flower. It is carefully protected there. As you 
see it broadens out at the lower end. There are tiny pas- 
sages from the top of the pistil into the broader part at the 

1 Among the flowers particularly adapted to use for illustration are : Sweet pea, apple 
blossom (and other fruit blossoms), lily, wild rose, tulip, etc. 



THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE. ' 9 

bottom. Now, if we cut through this broader part, the 
little green ball or stem at the bottom of the flower, we will 
see a number of little white dots. These dots or egg cells, 
as we call them, will in time grow into seeds. The tiny 
passages in the pistil lead to the egg ceils. 

Have you ever looked at a flower carefully ? I know that 
you have been very close to one many times, and have, in 
fact, stuck your nose deeply into it in order to get all its 
fragrance. Now, sometimes when you have done this I 
have noticed that some yellow dust from the center of the 
flower has been left on your nose. It has looked very funny 
there. This dust is called pollen. It doesn't seem of very 
much importance to you and you brush it off quickly. 
Still, this pollen plays a most important part in the making 
of flower seeds. 

When the bees and the butterflies fly into the center of 
the flower seeking honey, their feet and wings get covered 
with the fine yellow pollen, just as does your nose. Then, 
when they fly to another flower some of this yellow pollen 
dust is brushed off on top of the pistil as they pass by. 
But the pollen dust does not stay on top of the pistil. 
Through the passages in the pistil of which I have told you 
it sends a little shoot down into the little white dots or eggs. 
This process is called fertilization. After they have been 
fertilized the eggs enlarge and become seeds. Unless the 
pollen finds its way to the pistil the little white dots can 
never become real seeds. But if it does find its way, with 
the help of the bees or the wind, the little white dots be- 
come seeds, and these seeds, if planted carefully, will grow 
into fine flower plants and bear the pretty flowers which 
bring so much happiness to you and me. 

55226°— 21 2 



Chapter III. 

In our last talk, Helen Elizabeth, I told you about 
plants— how each particular part, leaf, stem, root, and 
flower, has its work to do. We love flowers so much that 
we were particularly happy to know about flower seeds. 
Even if all the plants now living should die, these seeds 
would grow into new plants with the same beautiful 
flowers. And I told you about how the seeds were made — 
the little specks of pollen finding their way down through 
the tiny passages in the pistil to the little white eggs, 
which then grow into real true flower seeds. 

To-day I have another interesting story to tell you. It 
is about fishes. I wonder how much you know about fishes, 
Helen Elizabeth. You know they live in the water, and 
you like to see them swim about. But you don't know what 
fishes do in their watery homes, and you don't realize how 
they live. There are thousands and thousands of fishes 
in the world, however, and many people depend on fishes 
for food. So you will see that they have quite an impor- 
tant place in life. 

Let us take one kind of fish — the salmon — and I shall 
tell you some of the things I know about it. Salmon live 
in the great Pacific Ocean and spend most of their lives 
far from the sight and knowledge of people. They swim 
about in the deep water looking for food. Day after day 
they spend in this way, eating food and growing bigger 
and bigger. 

There finally comes a time when each salmon feels an 
impulse, which it doesn't understand, that it has a work 
to do up a fresh-water stream. So the salmon turn to- 
ward the land and start up the rivers and brooks which 
lead from the sea. By thousands and tens of thousands 
they come. Fishermen catch many thousands of them, 
which are put into cans and sent all over the world for 
10 



THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE. 11 

you and me and millions of other people to eat. Yon will 
remember that we had some salmon for supper not so 
many days ago. 

But, happily, not all of the salmon are unfortunate 
enough to be caught. The lucky ones press on up the 
stream, swimming hard, growing tired but always intent 
upon that great business which brought them in from 
the sea. They swim up the swiftest rivers, and though 
sometimes the water carries them back they try again and 
again, until they reach a very narrow stream far up among 
the cool, shady mountains. 

Do you wonder why salmon work so hard to reach this 
narrow little stream, when they might be wandering hap- 
pily in the ocean ? Just as the rose bushes produce rose 
seeds from which new rose bushes will come, the salmon 
must produce little salmon which will grow up some day. 
Unless they did this, there would soon be no salmon left. 
But salmon can not produce their little ones in the dark 
waters of the sea, so they must come up into the sunny, 
clear, fresh-water brooks. 

After days of swimming, as I have said, the salmon 
reach the cool, shallow mountain streams. Here the 
mother salmon (for there are father and mother salmon) 
can safely do her work in the making of baby salmon. 
She selects a bit of sandy bottom in the cool, clear stream, 
and with her tail scoops out a little hole. Then, hovering 
over it, she discharges into it from her body a stream of 
little golden beads— her eggs. She does this at a number 
of places on the sandy bottom. This is her part toward 
keeping the salmon family alive. 

The mother salmon does not know, as we do, that not 
one of those eggs can hatch out into a little baby salmon 
until a father salmon has done his part — has furnished 
something from his body for it. He has come up the 
river also, driven by the same feelings as sent the mother 
salmon up from the ocean. After the mother salmon has 
given up her eggs, and they lie in the little hole which 
she has scooped out, the father salmon hovers above them 



12 THE WONDERFUL STORY OE LIEE. 

and discharges over them from his body a thin, light sub- 
stance called milt. This milt carries thousands of little 
wriggling bodies called sperms, much smaller than the 
pollen grains of the flower. But milt has the same pur- 
pose and work to do as the pollen grains. By it the 
mother fish's eggs are fertilized, just as was the white dot 
or egg in the flower. One of these little wriggling bodies 
enters each of the eggs that the mother salmon left. In 
this way each egg contains a part of the mother's body 
and part of the father's body. It at once begins to 
change and grow and finally becomes a baby salmon. If 
it had not been for the milt, this could not have happened. 
These baby salmon grow, and then gradually not all, 
but very many, find their way down the brooks and rivers 
and out into the sea. In the great ocean they live their 
childhood lives as did their fathers and mothers. There 
they wander about and have their fishy adventures, and 
when the proper time has come they in turn seek the clear, 
fresh water in the mountain streams where the sand is 
smooth and the daylight bright. 



Chapter IV. 

I am sure, Helen Elizabeth, that you know more about 
the habits of fishes than you did when we began our last 
talk. You now understand that the salmon come up the 
fresh water streams from the great Pacific Ocean, and that 
where the sand is smooth and the sunlight bright the 
mother salmon lays her eggs. Only if the father salmon 
comes along afterwards and discharges his milt over these 
eggs will they grow into little salmon. Of course all fishes 
do not travel as far as the salmon. Some spend their whole 
lives in the ocean ; others never go down into the sea ; some 
stay in the lakes and ponds. But all mother fishes lay their 
eggs where the father fish can pour his milt over them, else 
there would be no new little fishes and soon no fishes at all. 

You are, I think, better acquainted with the birds than 
you were with fishes, and I know you want to hear their 
story too. How glad you have been to see them again after 
the cold winter. You have missed their bright colors and 
their clear songs. But, sure as the spring comes, the birds 
return from the warmer southland, where they have spent 
the winter, and now you hear their joyous singing each 
morning as they welcome the bright sun of the returning 
day. They are saying that it is good to be alive in such a 
world, where there are shady trees and beautiful flowers 
and fat, juicy earthworms. 

But the birds are singing not always to you and me or 
to the bright sun. They are singing to each other and say- 
ing that it is not good to be alone in the world. They are 
saying that there must always be birds in the world to make 
people happy. So finally each male singer will find a 
female bird who agrees with him, and they will agree to 
build a nest and have some baby birds. 

How can they do it % Ah, that is a great mystery that 
they don't understand. But they set about their busi- 

13 



14 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE. 

ness and play and work together, these two, apart from the 
rest of the birds in the world, intent on making a nest, 
And the more they are together the more they love each 
other, and the more they love each other the more they 
become tender to one another. Finally they reach a 
point of tenderness at which they merely flutter about one 
another, and you will occasionally see a father bird on 
top of a mother bird, snuggling as close to the mother 
bird as he can. She seems very willing to have him do so. 
And this is the reason: As they are together there passes 
from his body to hers, through parts provided for this 
purpose, a fine stream, much like the stream of milt which 
the father salmon poured out over the salmon eggs, a 
stream bearing thousands of the same kind of little wrig- 
gling bodies, far too small for us to see with our eyes. 
But each of these wriggling bodies carries in it something 
of the father bird which enters the seeds or eggs in the 
body of the mother bird, to fertilize and make them alive, 
so they can, with proper care, later become baby birds. 

Without that little portion of the father bird, no eggs 
could ever hatch. The father bird makes the eggs fer- 
tile. That means they can grow into baby birds and 
finally break through the shell. The hen can lay eggs, 
which for your purposes and mine, to make omelettes or 
soft-boiled eggs, are as good as any. But unless she lives 
with a rooster and receives from him the little wriggling 
bodies which make eggs fertile she can never lay an egg 
that will hatch into a chicken. An egg that will not hatch 
into a chicken is not worth anything at all to a mother 
hen. She might just as well have a stone or a door knob 
to sit on. 

It is the same with the mother bird. While she or the 
father bird might either of them build a nest alone, and 
she could even lay an egg alone, neither of them could 
possibly produce a baby bird without the help of the 
other. Thus it is that they will find their greatest happi- 
ness in life living together and loving one another, and in 
raising and caring for their baby birds. 



Chapter Y. 

When you reach high school or college, Helen Elizabeth, 
you may begin to study Latin, the language which the old 
Romans used to speak and write. Perhaps some day you 
will come across the Latin words which were written many 
years ago and which mean, i ' Every life comes from an 
egg." You may be surprised to know that this is true for 
almost all living things. You understand or believe that 
the fish comes from an egg and that the bird does ; and you 
can even understand what I mean when I say that the seed 
of a plant comes from an egg at the base of the pistil. But 
you may think that puppies and calves, colts and babies do 
not come from eggs, because you have never heard of such 
a thing and never saw the egg of a dog, cow, horse, or 
woman. There are such things, however, and all of these 
young animals come from eggs just as truly as do chickens 
and birds. 

Now, why is it that, if animals come from eggs, you have 
never heard of or seen the eggs? The fact is that the eggs 
of the higher animals are too small to be seen. You are 
surprised, of course, that the egg of so large a creature as a 
horse or a cow, or even an elephant should be too small to 
be seen, while a little bird like a humming bird lays an egg 
as big as a pea. The reason is this : What we call the bird's 
egg really contains two different things. First there is the 
little egg itself, which is to grow and become the young 
bird. Secondly, there is food enough inside the shell to 
supply the little bird while it is growing to the age and size 
at which it will hatch. The stored-up food inside the shell 
is the part which is good to eat. Just as it is good food for 
the little unhatched bird, so it is good for you and me. 
The egg of the cow and other animals, on the other hand, 
does not contain food, so it can be very small — so small 
that only a microscope would enable you to see it. 

15 



16 THE WONDEKEUL STOEY OE LIFE. 

These eggs are so small that, unlike the hen's egg, the 
fish eggs, and the rose's egg, they can not, even after 
they have been made fertile, live outside the animal's 
body. They can only be cared for properly within the 
bodies of their mothers. After a time, when they have 
grown into young animals, they are born into the world. 
Even then they are still pretty helpless and have to be 
cared for during long periods — puppies for weeks, babies 
for years. In fact, you, yourself, Helen Elizabeth, with 
your nine years, are not yet able to take full care of your- 
self and to make your own living. Your father and I still 
have the happiness of looking after you and having you 
for our child. And it is a wonderful blessing that parents 
do love to look after and care for their children. If the 
children are good and honest and truthful and brave, it 
gives the parents the greatest sort of happiness, much, 
much greater than any happiness that can come from 
money, pleasures, parties, fine clothes, shows, or any other 
thing. 

You, Helen Elizabeth, are a great happiness for father 
and me, because you have been a good girl, and we shall 
take the greatest care to look out for you until you are able 
to take good care of yourself. 



Chapter VI. 

In our last talk, Helen Elizabeth, I told you that the 
eggs of all baby animals are very small, and that baby 
animals can be cared for properly for a long time only 
within the bodies of their mothers. Now you are wanting 
to know how the eggs get inside the mothers and what 
causes them to grow. For just as the chicken's egg be- 
gins inside of the chicken, the fish egg inside of the fish, 
the sweet-pea seed inside of the pea pod, so the eggs of 
all baby animals and of the human baby begin inside 
the mother. 

There are, as you know, many different parts in your 
body. Just as the plant has its roots and stems and leaves 
and flowers, each for a special purpose, so the human 
body has many parts, each with its work to do. The heart 
is to pump the blood about the body ; eyes are to see with ; 
teeth are to eat with; lungs are to furnish fresh air or 
oxygen to purify the blood. And there are many other 
parts such as the stomach and brain and muscles and skin, 
all with their special work. 

Now, within the lower part of the woman's body, far 
from injury and well protected, are two parts called 
ovaries, whose work is to produce eggs. These ovaries 
are in some ways her most precious possession. With- 
out them she could not have grown into a woman. With- 
out them she could never become the mother of charm- 
ing babies. For out of the eggs which the ovaries pro- 
duce, develops, under proper conditions, the new life of 
the little baby. 

No egg, however, will develop into a baby until it is fer- 
tilized, until it is made to live by receiving into itself some- 
thing from the father. You have been told how plants are 
fertilized when the pollen, which is the father part, is car- 
ried to the pistil of the flower by the bee, and travels down 
through it to the little growing seeds or eggs which are 

17 



18 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE. 

produced by the mother part. You have heard of the 
father salmon that swims hundreds of miles in order to 
pour out his milt upon some salmon eggs left by the mother 
salmon. You have seen birds loving one another, and have 
been told that at times a little stream of life-giving fluid 
passes from one to the other as they do so. This fluid con- 
tains the little wriggling bodies which fertilize the eggs so 
that they will grow and produce baby fish and baby birds. 
The eggs of the salmon and the birds hatch outside of the 
mother's body. 

Mammals are animals like cows and dogs and cats and 
human beings, which carry their young in their bodies, 
sheltered and nourished deep in the mother until they are 
born. For that reason it is necessary that a life-giving 
body, like the little wriggling things in the milt of the fish, 
be placed by the father in the body of the mother, where it 
will have a good chance to find the egg in the place pro- 
vided for it. And, wonderful to tell, human fathers and 
mothers, and the fathers and mothers of other mammals 
are so made that this is possible. The father makes the egg 
"within the body of the mother fertile. Then, in the safe 
nest which has been made there, the egg grows and devel- 
ops until it is strong enough to live in the air. When the 
little animal comes out of the mother nest, we say it is 
born. 

When a man and woman love one another very much, 
and each thinks the other the dearest and most wonderful 
thing in the world, they get married and live together. 
Then, if they have followed God's laws, they may some 
day make their home happy with loving children. And 
there is nothing, Helen Elizabeth, which makes a home 
happier than loving children. Your father and I know 
because we have you. 



Chapter VII. 

I feel that I have told you, Helen Elizabeth, about as 
much as your years will allow you to understand. But 
when you are 12 or 13 years old I may get another book for 
you. Meanwhile, if you have any questions to ask about 
any of these things, bring them to me or to father, and 
do not take them to other children. Many children are 
not told about such things by their parents, and what 
other children think they know may not be true. For that 
reason we do not talk about these matters outside the 
home. 

You will understand better now, I hope, why your father 
and I love you so very much. It is because we have given 
you so much of ourselves. You were born because we 
loved each other. And while father and mother fishes 
do not worry whether the little fishes live or not, we have 
cared for you very carefully until you are now getting 
to be a big girl. We shall continue to care for you, giv- 
ing you food and clothes and a little room for your own, 
giving you all we can to make your life happy until you 
are ready to take care of yourself. It is our greatest hap- 
piness to do these things for you. 

We want you to be happy — very, very happy — while 
you are in our care. But we also want you to realize that 
we have given up many things because of you. When you 
were very little, before you left the warm nest inside my 
body, I carried you about always with me for a long time, 
and then after you were born, it was not always easy to 
care for you. One time you were sick, and your father 
and I spent all the night trying to make you better. And 
there were other times. We were happy to do these things 
because we loved you so much. And you are happy and 
love us just as much as you can because we have done so 
much for you. 

19 



20 THE WONDERFUL STORY OF LIFE. 

You have, I know, Helen Elizabeth, found the story 
about the continuation of life — whether of flowers, of 
fishes, of birds, or of human beings- — an interesting and 
wonderful story. Tou even realize a little why I have 
called it a sacred story. As you grow up you will under- 
stand better. For in all your life you will never find a 
story more beautiful or more wonderful. Not all people 
realize this ; not all people see the beauty and the wonder 
of it. But you have already come to know a little, and 
in the years to come may you realize more. That is your 
father's fondest hope — and mine. 



Other pamphlets regarding the reproduction of life, the hygiene of sex, 
and the diseases which result from wrong sex living may be obtained free 
of charge: 

Pamphlet A. For young men. 

Pamphlet B. For the general public. 

Pamphlet 0. For boys. 

Pamphlet D. For parents. 

Pamphlet B. For girls and young women. 

Pamphlet F. For educators. 

Write to your State Board of Health or to the United States Public Health 
Service, 16 Seventh Street SW., Washington, D. O. 



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